Man Arraigned On Charges From Standoff

Claremont’s Jarvis Charged With 2 Drug Felonies, Remains Jailed

Claremont — A Claremont man who held police at bay last week during a three-hour standoff at his home was arraigned yesterday on two felony drug charges.

Anthony Jarvis Jr., 33, appeared via videoconference from the House of Corrections in Unity where he remains held on $100,000 cash bail. No one was injured in the standoff, which ended when Jarvis surrendered to police.

Jarvis, who is on parole for an earlier felony conviction, is charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell and falsifying physical evidence. Police allege he burnt the marijuana in a wood stove at his home on Providence Avenue during the standoff.

Fifth Circuit Court Judge Jack Yazinski, who agreed with the bail amount recommended by Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway, entered no plea on behalf of Jarvis.

Jarvis did not comment during the brief arraignment. Hathaway said that attorney Bob Morgan had contacted him over the weekend and said he would represent Jarvis.

Hathaway told Judge Yazinski he tried calling Morgan to advise him of the arraignment but was unable to reach him.

According to a police affidavit from Cpl. Emily Cobb of the Claremont Police Department, the arrest of Jarvis was preceded by the following events:

At around noon last Friday, Sgt. Stanley Andrewski and officer Jesse Vezina agreed to a request from Jarvis’ Probation and Parole officers to assist them during a search of the home. When the probation officers arrived, they advised Jarvis of an anonymous that he had 40 ounces of cocaine in his home and also told him Claremont police would be assisting in the search of his vehicle and residence. Jarvis initially cooperated with the search, but while parole officers were searching the vehicle, Jarvis ran back into his house and locked the door behind him.

When Jarvis was ordered by police to come out, “Jarvis yelled he was going to shoot himself in the head.”

Police then called for backup from the State Police and the Sheriff’s Department.

Capt. Mark Chase spoke with Jarvis using Jarvis’ wife’s cell phone. “Capt. Chase was told by Jarvis that he just needed to some time to calm down and he would come out. Jarvis said he would call back when he was ready,” the affidavit stated.

Phone communication then stopped, and shortly thereafter, officers smelled what they described as the odor of burning marijuana. About an hour after he spoke to his wife, Jarvis exited the residence and was arrested without incident.

During a “protective sweep” of the home, officers said they observed marijuana in front of the wood stove and could smell it burning. A search warrant was obtained and police confiscated marijuana and paperwork that appeared to be ledgers with names and amounts of “what appeared to be money owed to Mr. Jarvis from other subjects.”

Hathaway said yesterday outside the courtroom that no firearm was found in the Jarvis home. Police also searched for cocaine and other illicit narcotics, according to the affidavit, but only found marijuana.

In court, Hathaway told Judge Yazinski that Jarvis will probably be transferred to New Hampshire State Prison.

Jarvis was sentenced to about three years in prison in 2009 for firing a shotgun into an occupied vehicle and then engaging in a high-speed chase. He was released in 2012 and was being supervised by probation officers. Previous convictions include resisting arrest and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon.

His father, Anthony, was shot and killed in Charlestown by police in 2008 during a standoff after police tried to arrest his son Jesse Jarvis. The elder Jarvis fired his 9 mm gun when police entered his trailer but return fire by an officer killed him.

Newport — By the time Anthony Jarvis finished serving his prison sentence last September, he had a drug habit, fueled by the ready availability of opiates behind bars. And once he was free, Jarvis quickly turned to selling marijuana as a way to pay for his drug habit, his lawyer said yesterday. What happened next shouldn’t come as a surprise: …